Carl Crawford

Infobox MLB player
name=Carl Crawford

---

width=300
position=Left fielder
team=Tampa Bay Rays
number=13
bats=Left
throws=Left
birthdate=birth date and age|1981|8|5
city-state|Houston|Texas
debutdate=July 20
debutyear=2002
debutteam=Tampa Bay Devil Rays
statyear=July 23, 2008
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.293
stat2label=Stolen bases| stat2value=302
stat3label=Hits
stat3value=1111
stat4label=Triples
stat4value=84
stat5label=Home runs| stat5value=70
stat6label=RBI
stat6value=425
teams=
*Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays (by|2002-present)
awards=
* 2x All-Star selection (2004, 2007)

Carl Demonte Crawford (born August 5 1981 in city-state|Houston|Texas) is the starting left fielder for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball. He bats and throws left-handed.

Early life

Carl attended Jefferson Davis High School in Houston, Texas and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. In baseball, he batted over .500 as a senior. Crawford was offered scholarships to play basketball as a point guard at UCLA or to play football as an option quarterback at the University of Nebraska. He turned down both offers in favor of a baseball career.

Professional career

Crawford was drafted by the Devil Rays in the second round (52nd overall) of the 1999 MLB Draft.

Minor leagues

In 2002, the Tampa Bay chapter of the BBWAA named Crawford the Devil Rays' Most Outstanding Rookie and he earned International League Rookie of the Year playing for the AAA Durham Bulls.

Major Leagues

2002-05

Crawford entered the major leagues at the young age of 20 and played in 63 games for the Devil Rays in 2002, batting .259 with 9 stolen bases. He is the longest tenured member of the team.

In 2003, he played nearly every day, batting .281 with 54 RBI and led the league with 55 steals. Along with Juan Pierre, Crawford was co-winner of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum James "Cool Papa" Bell Legacy Award for 2003.

In 2004, Crawford stole 59 bases, again leading the league and posting the second-highest total in the majors that season. He batted .296 with 11 home runs and 55 RBIs. Crawford also hit a league-leading 19 triples. He was selected for the 2004 All Star Game, played in his hometown of Houston, and was named Devil Rays team MVP in 2004 by the BBWAA.

Crawford batted .301 in 2005, becoming just the third .300 hitter in Devil Rays history, joining Aubrey Huff (.311 in 2003) and Fred McGriff (.310 in 1999). Crawford also posted career highs in hits (194), home runs (15), and RBI (81). He again lead the league with 15 triples and placed third in steals (46).

2006

Crawford stated in February 2006 that his desire to be the number one fantasy baseball pick motivates him to train harder and work better, making him one of the first baseball players to openly talk about fantasy baseball as a motivation tool. In the 2007 Fantasy prospects, Crawford is the #2 outfielder on most boards. On Mother's Day, May 14, Crawford was one of more than 50 hitters to brandish a pink bat to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a breast cancer research foundation.

On July 5 against the Boston Red Sox, Crawford became only the eighth player in history to get 200 stolen bases before his 25th birthday. That same day, he also stole home plate for the first time in his career. Crawford finished the season with career highs in batting average (.305) and home runs (18), joining Hall-of-Famer Rogers Hornsby as the only players in Major League history to increase their batting average and home run totals every year for five straight years.cite web |url=http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070701&content_id=2059851&vkey=allstar2007&fext=.jsp |title=Crawford selected to AL All-Star squad| last=Chastain| first=Bill| work=MLB.com| date=2007-07-01]

2007

Crawford was named an All-Star for the second time in 2007, becoming the first Devil Ray to receive the honor more than once. He homered in the 6th inning of the All-Star Game, on a 3-2 pitch from Francisco Cordero of the Milwaukee Brewers.

In the second half of the season, Crawford had a sore right wrist which had been bothering him for some time, and he did not hit a home run for a period of 42 days because of it. Prior to a game against the Toronto Blue Jays, he had an MRI and was listed as doubtful to play because of the wrist. However, he pinch hit as the game went into extra innings and promptly hit a walk-off home run, ending his drought. This kicked off a run of four homers in ten games.cite web| url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/gl.cgi?n1=crawfca02&t=b&year=2007 | title= Carl Crawford 2007 Batting Gamelogs| work=Baseball Reference| accessdate=2007-09-12]

In August, a panel of experts on ESPN.com named Crawford the Devil Rays' "Face of the Franchise". Three out of four experts picked him and he was also overwhelmingly picked by the fans with 75 percent of the vote.cite web| url=http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/face/mlb/team?team=tam | title=Face of the Franchise: Tampa Bay Devil Rays| work=ESPN.com| date=August| accessdate=2007-09-07]

2008

On April 11, Crawford accumulated his 1000th hit, making him only the eighth player to hit 1000 and steal 250 bases before turning 27. On June 5, he was suspended for two games and fined by the MLB for his actions in a brawl against the Boston Red Sox. On August 10, Crawford injured a tendon in his right middle finger and was placed on a 15-day disabled list. He is scheduled to return for the playoffs.

tatistics

Awards and accomplishments

* Devil Rays Most Outstanding Rookie (2002)
* International League Rookie of the Year (2002)
* Cool Papa Bell Legacy Award (2003)
* American League Stolen Base Champion (2003)
* American League Stolen Base Champion (2004)
* American League All-Star (2004)
* Devil Rays Most Valuable Player (2004)
* Devil Rays Season Runs Record: 104 (2004)
* Devil Rays Season Triples Record: 19 (2004)
* Devil Rays Season Stolen Base Record: 59
* American League All-Star (2007)
* Devil Rays all-time leader in at bats, plate appearances, runs scored, hits, triples, strikeouts, stolen bases, and singles.

ee also

*List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions
*List of Major League Baseball triples champions
* Tampa Bay Rays all-time roster

References

External links

* [http://www.jockbio.com/Bios/Crawford/Crawford_bio.html In-depth biography]